Gallic criminal caper will steal your heart
DEAR READER, I have bingewatched again. It happened without noticing... first one episode of Lupin (Netflix), then another, and before I realised it, most of the family was in front of this promising new French caper, inspired by Maurice Leblanc’s tales of the eponymous cat burglar.
The premise is that our hero, Assane Diop (Omar Sy), is out to avenge the injustice meted out to his father who, forced to sign a confession admitting to the robbery of a diamond necklace, went on to take his own life. Oh, and it’s all set in Paris which, under the circumstances, is a pleasant background travelogue. “Look! There’s that very tall tower again...”
Assane is a master of getting into – and out of – tight situations. One of his daftest tricks in the first series was to break into a prison. It won’t catch on. He then managed to find his way into an infirmary by getting himself stabbed.
Yes, you need to suspend disbelief by a large measure. Once you’ve done this, you will enjoy this French crime romp which is successfully dubbed into English. If you’re a determined Francophile – and love subtitles – you can switch to the native Gallic version. For the rest of us, we can revel in this Pink Panther meets Hustle wry thriller. It’s returning for a second series, too.
Marcella (ITV, Tuesday), starring
Anna Friel, is back for a third, and probably, final series. She’s been “placed” undercover with an evil Northern Irish crime family near Belfast – well, that’s new – but Marcella is the most unstable detective ever seen on the box, with flights of fantasy, and general paranoia.
So, unsurprisingly she’s quite at home with this bunch of murdering, people-trafficking thugs. She’s even entertaining one of them in the bedchamber – and while they don’t appear to be binge-watching, someone else is… through a peephole in the ceiling.
It’s the sheer madness of this series that keeps you glued. And the violence… wow! There was a summary execution in a field that made me spill my supper. Then there was the over-the-top killing of the son of the British Foreign Secretary in a club. Apparently nothing political about that, just a novel and wasteful use of a champagne bottle.
Marcella’s police handler, too, played by the excellent Hugo Speer, is singularly past caring. He has thrown his charge to the wolves: “We knew she had issues when we took her on.” What a trouper.
It was hard to know whether to laugh or cry during
(BBC Two, Sunday). The Trump era, if it hadn’t actually happened in real-life, would have made a five-star mockumentary. Even the “characters” in this episode looked like parodies. Our own blessed Nigel Farage, introduced by Trump at a rally as apparently “one of the most powerful men in Europe”, was
HAS anyone seen BBC drama?
I’ve been scouring the schedules since Killing Eve and can’t find anything. Thankfully I came across a channel called Netflix, now the same price as the licence fee, where I saw The Crown, Bridgerton and now the excellent Lupin. All three had exceptional storytelling. On ITV, The Pembrokeshire Murders and Finding Alice were also above average. BBC drama is in the doldrums and Covid is no excuse. The channels are incapable of making a decent mainstream drama. Normal People or I May Destroy You do not count. Wake up, BBC drama. We need
you.
The Trump Show: Downfall
drinking a glass of water. What? The greatest losers – apart from Trump – are comedians and satirists around the world who must wonder who they’re going to write about now. Spitting Image (Britbox) must have been petitioning the White House for another four Trump years. Still, there’s always Harry and Meghan who will keep us all guffawing.
Now some good news. If you’ve been missing shows about gypsies or benefits, they’re still widely available on 5 Star, Channel 5 hybrid channel, now apparently devoted to both causes.
Monday’s line-up was, in this order, and Gypsies Next Door. So 5 Star’s ultimate show would be...fare Dodging, Bargain-hunting Gypsies Next Door On Benefits. At least they’ve found their USP.
I should be commended for making it halfway through this arresting piece of scheduling, which felt like something from 2005. Fare dodging officers appear to be the new traffic wardens, both officious and unforgiving, while Bargain Brits had some top tips for saving money, such as hanging packets of crisps on tiny coathangers. You can see what you have, apparently. I’m afraid I’m too busy watching 5 Star to do that.
Lightning (BBC Two, Monday) is a new game show which should be enjoyed with the lights off before switching off the set altogether. If you want to avoid further braincell erosion during lockdown, please stay away – though a pet or young infant may find the light show diverting.
And finally,
(BBC One, Tuesday & Wednesday) has returned for a special charity run for celebrities who missed out on both Strictly and I’m A Celebrity.
Two ex-strictly dancers did actually make an appearance, Karim Zeroual and Ed Balls, the latter of whom has gone from dad dancing to “dad cooking”. But the most ambitious was first evictee, US comedian Desiree Burch, who put pork in a quiche. Sacre bleu! At least we only have to imagine what these dishes taste like. As for chief taster Mary Berry, we salute your continued bravery.
Cook
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